This collaborative effort aims to research
sustainable energy solutions and provide local energy grid
resilience
PLANO,
Texas and WASHINGTON, June 17,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota Motor North America
(Toyota) and local energy utility Pepco are working together on
vehicle-to-grid (V2G) research for battery electric vehicles (BEVs)
using a Toyota bZ4X. This collaborative effort will explore
bidirectional power flow technology that will allow BEV owners to
not only charge their vehicle's battery but also send power back to
the local energy grid. V2G technology has the potential to support
and provide benefits to customers through improved energy
reliability and resilience, the integration of renewables, and the
possibility of reduced electricity costs.
This collaboration aims to understand the needs of EV owners
through their charging habits and vehicle usage, which will be
crucial in driving widespread adoption of V2G technology. Nearly 80
percent of owners currently charge their EVs at home overnight when
demand for energy is lower. With bidirectional capability, these
vehicles could send power back to the local energy grid during peak
demand hours or at other critical times, such as severe weather.
"Bidirectional charging is a great way for customers to leverage
their electric vehicles in a way that supports the grids and their
home electricity ecosystem," said Christopher Yang, group vice president, Toyota
EV Charging Solutions. "Working with Pepco will help us understand
charging and discharging use-cases, which will ultimately benefit
our customers and help utility providers better understand grid
demands."
Maryland is one of the fastest
growing EV markets in the nation and is targeting to have 300,000
EVs on the road by 2025. Pepco is helping Maryland lead this charge by installing 250 EV
chargers across Montgomery and
Prince George's Counties. In
April, Maryland also became the
first state to pass vehicle-to-grid legislation when it passed HB
1256 – the Distributed Renewable Integration and Vehicle
Electrification (DRIVE) Act – that requires utilities to develop
interconnection processes for bidirectional chargers.
"Pepco is leading the energy transformation in the communities
we serve by embracing technology that is helping to drive the clean
energy transition," said Tyler
Anthony, president and CEO of Pepco Holdings. "V2G is
designed to connect with the local energy grid and is part of our
roadmap to ensure a successful and equitable energy transition.
This collaboration with Toyota allows us to better understand V2G
technology and its impact on the grid, our customers, and overall
service reliability as we work together toward a more sustainable
and resilient future for the communities we serve."
The V2G research will take place at Pepco's Watershed
Sustainability Center, located at the company's Rockville Service
Center in Montgomery County,
Maryland, using a bidirectional charger. Pepco will lead the
effort to design and evaluate a variety of EV charging and
discharging use-cases that can potentially provide grid and
customer benefits. The demonstration project will also assist Pepco
in understanding the infrastructure needed to enable the rapid
growth of EV charging infrastructure and the nuances of
interconnecting large numbers of V2G assets to the grid to better
prepare the utility to implement requirements of the DRIVE Act and
support customer adoption of this technology.
Currently, Toyota offers two mass-market BEVs in the U.S. and
Canada – the Toyota
bZ4X and Lexus RZ. Toyota recently announced plans for
two all-new three-row BEV SUVs that will be assembled at Toyota
Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (TMMK) and Toyota Motor Manufacturing
Indiana (TMMI). By 2030, Toyota aspires to offer 30 BEV models
globally across its Toyota and Lexus brand nameplates and produce
up to 3.5 million BEVs annually.
About Toyota:
Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel
cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people
live through our Toyota and Lexus brands, and directly employs more
than 63,000 people in North
America (more than 49,000 in the U.S.).
Over the past 65 years, Toyota has assembled nearly 47 million
cars and trucks in North America
at the company's 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, the company's
13th plant in North Carolina will
begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified
vehicles.
Through our more than 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly
1,500 in the U.S.), Toyota sold more than 2.6 million cars and
trucks (more than 2.2 million in the U.S.) in 2023, of which more
than one quarter were electrified vehicles (full battery, hybrid,
plug-in hybrid and fuel cell).
For more information about Toyota, visit
www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
About Pepco:
Pepco is a unit of Exelon (Nasdaq:
EXC), a Fortune 250 company and the nation's largest utility
company, serving more than 10 million customers. Pepco provides
safe and reliable energy service to approximately 944,000 customers
in the District of Columbia and
Maryland.
Media Contacts
Toyota Motor North America
Joshua Burns
Joshua.Burns@toyota.com
Pepco Communications
Chuck McDade
202-872-2680
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SOURCE Toyota Motor North America